It’s BJP against all the rest of them from now on: Amit Shah

BJP president Amit Shah has said his party will have to devise a strategy of “51% politics” to defeat rival electoral forces.

n the past it used to be the Congress versus all or Indira (Gandhi) versus all. Now it is the BJP versus all or Narendra Modi versus all, said Amit Shah.(PTI Photo)

BJP president Amit Shah has said his party will have to devise a strategy of “51% politics” to defeat rival electoral forces, including the Congress, that have joined hands despite serious ideological and policy differences.

Speaking to Hindustan Times in an exclusive interview after his appointment as party president for the second time on January 24, Shah said the central point of politics has changed from the Congress to BJP. “In the past it used to be the Congress versus all or Indira (Gandhi) versus all. Now it is the BJP versus all or Narendra Modi versus all. Our adversaries have joined hands for their own survival. And as elections are a numbers game in the end, the BJP must come up with a political strategy of 51% to defeat these forces. I see this as a plus for the strength of the BJP,” he said.

Shah will have a second term co-terminus with Modi’s term as Prime Minister till 2019.

While Shah admitted the forthcoming elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala posed a formidable challenge to the BJP, he was convinced the party would break all past electoral records and have a hand in government formation, particularly in Assam.

“We won four out of six elections in the past 16 months without losing our support base even in Bihar and Delhi. The party is in expansion mode in the states going to polls in the coming months. Yet, I am convinced the party will do well in the elections,” he said, adding that the real test would be in 2017 when states where the BJP has big stakes would go to the polls.

Shah said he was planning to undertake a party reorganisation in the coming days after consultations with senior leaders.